The women¹s team finished second behind overall winner Brandeis University, while the men¹s team finished in eighth place overall. The Bantams of NESCAC rival Trinity College took home the men¹s title for the second consecutive week.
The women were led by brilliant performances from veterans Diana Rancourt ¹02 and Katie Famous ¹01.
Rancourt finished in fourth place and covered the 3.1-mile course in a blistering 18:07. ³[18:07] is a great result so early in the season,² said Rancourt. ³I have been running well in workouts and that confidence carried [me] into race day.²
Famous ran one of her finest races at Amherst, finishing second on the team and 20th overall with a time of 19:00. ³I had the best race of my life this weekend,² she exclaimed. ³It was absolutely awesome.²
In addition to Famous¹ performance, strong races by Alison Dimon ¹03 (32nd, 19:17), Alyson Venti ¹04 (23rd, 19:02) and Rebecca Woo ¹02 (26th, 19:07) helped the Jeffs notch another top three finish.
Junior Molly Burnett (34th, 19:20) and sophomore Emily Dubinsky (57th, 19:50) rounded out the women¹s varsity.
The men¹s top performer was Nathaniel Robinson ¹02, who finished the five-mile course in 23rd place with a time of 26:24. The rest of the Jeffs¹ top five ran together, led by John Stanton-Geddes ¹04 (47th, 27:09).
Sophomore Alex Lenkoski finished in 27:13, good for 51st place overall, while freshmen Justin DiVenuta and Micheal Page continued to impress their older Jeff teammates, finishing in 53rd (27:15) and 54th places (27:17) respectively.
Coach Nedeau hopes the men will run with more confidence in future races. ³The men ran conservatively today,² he noted. ³I hope that our strength work during the week inspires [the men] to take charge of the race, instead of being concerned about fatigue.²
The brightest moment for the Jeffs was the gritty effort of junior Rusty Ryan. Ryan crossed the line in 27:45, good for 2nd place in the junior varsity race. ³I really like the course [at UMass-Dartmouth],² said Ryan. ³The course catered to speed, and I took advantage of that.²
Both teams will return to this course in early November for the NCAA Division III Regional Championships.
The men¹s and women¹s teams will travel to Boston this Saturday to compete in the Codfish Bowl Invitational.